Melting-furnace.



W. N. BEST. MELKTING FURNACE. Armcmou men MAY 31. 1913.

1 37,1378. Patented A111127, 1915.

2 sains-sneu 1.

w. N. Best. MELTING FURNACE. v Armcmou man unil, 1913.

1,137,378, Pawnmdpr. 27, 1915i. i

2 SHEETS-SNEET 2.

UNITED STATES OFFICE.

WILLIAM N. BEST, zoF NEW Yoan, N. Y.

MELTINFUBNAoE.

specification of Letters Patent Patented Apr. 27, V1915appiicaapnmedmay'ai,1913. serial-Newman.

To all whom tm/ay concern.

Beit known that I,- WILLIAM NEWTON' BEST, a citizen of the UnitedStates,and resident'of New York city, in the borough of Brooklyn, county-'ofKings, andState of NewYork, have invented v.certain new and.

useful Improvements in Melting-Furnaces,`

of which the -following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in melting lfurnaces,and-more'par`A ticularly to a type of-urnace adapted for use in melting,metals or alloys in portable crucibles. It is iwell-knownjthatf checkerciently in furnaces of this' type when-melting brass, as suchcheckerworkorregenerators soon become 'obstructed by depositsffrom thegases or fumes resultingfrom the heating of the alloy to avhightemperature. '.In

-my improved construction I so arrange the"v 'Y combustion chamber, themeltingchamber and the flues to the `stack th-at"I' utilize a lconsiderable portion of Athefzwaste jheatand preheat the incomingbefore"` delivering `the latte;` to the combustion. chamber; the.preferred constructioml I provide two combustion chambers atoppositeends of the body of the furnace andconnect the vstack'to thefurnace by -`separate flues leading to the two combustion chambers.'Eachv Hue adjacent the stack is provided with'suitable 'controllingmeans whereby communication with theV stack is shut oli'andcommun'ication established either directly with the atmosphere orwith the source of gas supporting combustion. Normally the body-of thefurnace -isheated from only one of said combustionchambera the air `orother gas time requiredtoh'eat or coolA the walls of the fiues. Aftereach Yreversalin the operation the air entergthe*combustion chamberthrough lthe fine` which has `just* previously been heated outgoinggases of 'combustion and the flue through which 'the air has previouslyentered will be heated preparatory for the next operation. .y

The `maii1` principle of. operation of my im roved furnace is preferablyas above kvout ined, but the structural details may be varied in variousways without departing kfrom the spirit of my invention. Furthermore,certain structural features hereinafter pointed outare in themselvesimportant and may .be -used in furnaces of other-types o p operating jonother principles.

Reference 'is to be had to the accompanyingl drawings in which I haveillustrated one form which my invention may assume,

but vI desire the drawings to b e considered 1n an illustrative ratherthan in aflimiting sense. Inthese drawings, in which similar 'referencecharacters indicate correspondingV partsfthroughout thevseveral views,Figure 1f shows a ltop plan View of a furnace em'- bodying my invention;v Fig. 2 is a partial plan view and partial section on the line of 3;Fig. 3 isa vertical longitu-` .dinalsection on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;Fig.

sfis a vertical transverse section on the line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5..is'a vertical section onv the line 5-f5 of Fig. lfand showing theconnections between the .fluesvand the stack;

and Fig. Gis a view similar to a portion of Fig. 5, but showingaslightlymodified constructiomj Y In the lspecific form shown in the drawings, Iprovide a heating chamber Sub-divided into two compartments 1'0'and10",.by

a partition 11, having an aperture 412,- therethrough. The -twocompartments of the heating chamber at their .outer ends `com- 'municatewith combustion chambers 13, 13,

within which the heat is generated and vfrom which it is delivered totheheating chamber.

The combustion chambers taper inwardly from comparatively small outerapertures, 14 and 14a. The side wals'j-of each combustion` chamber`extend at ahiangle to each other, from 'the side walls of' the heatingchamber to the corresponding `outer, openingv .and the top andbott'omwalls of veach com#v bustion chamber spread apart as they extendinwardly, so as to substantiallyv merge with the top'and bottom of the.heating chamber.` Thus each 'combustion' chamber is :substantially anextension of thefheatingchamber 'and substantially triangular inbothhorizontal Aand vertical sectionv as is indicated iny 'Figa Zand 3'.Opposite the outer ends lof bers 15, 15 within which are located burners16, 16 of a type adapted to deliver a fan shaped body of oil or otherHuid fuel into the combustion chamber the fan-shaped spray or body offuel extending across substantially the entire width of the combustionchamber and thus filling the latter transversely and along substantiallyits entire length. The burner WhichI preferably employ Vis of thegeneralv character indicated in my prior Patent No. 752,195 grantedFebruary 16th, 1904, or that shown in the patent to W. N. Best, Jr., No.963,985, granted July 12th, 1910. The entrance openings 14, 14 to thecombustion chambers are 4l.of such shape and size and the burners arevsol/braced that very little combustion supporting air. enters theopenings. The burner may use either lcompressed air or steam for formingthe liquid spray and delivering it to wthe combustion chamber in ease aliquidfuel-is'employed. l j f1' Y In the bottom wall or floor ofthe-combustionch'amber's adjacent their outer ends are ports 17,17communicating with flues 18, 18 leading to the stack 19. These luesserve to alternately deliver combustion supporting medium to thecombustion chamber and to ofeombustion and Afumes from the materialbeing heated, as will bemore particularly hereinafter pointed out.Adjacent the coml bustion chamberinlet ports 14, 14 are two l stack aretwo dampers 21, 21

, 2 2, may be of any suitable character and The may be operated in anysuitable manner, but preferably they are so constructed that when onevof the dampers21, 21 is open the corresponding damper 22. or 22 will beclosed and' vice versa. The flues 18, 18 are of any suitable lengthdependent upon the relative location of the stack and upon lthe degreeof preheating which it is desired to impart to the `incoming combustion'supporting mewalls of thevflues are preferably formed of fire brick orof other suitable mafterial which will not be injured by the heat- 'edgases or by rapid changes in temperature, and they will. absorb andretain a largeainount of heatI from the hot gases so as to later impartit to the incoming air.

In the operation of the furnace so faras above describedcuebls 23 areplaced .in

conduct from the heating chamber the gases 22 have lever may move acrossand close stack. Adjacent are preferably of such a character that` astrong draft through the heating chambers, said crucibles being chargedWith the material to be heated either before or after being placed inposition. One of the burners for instance the burner 16, is started inoperation, the corresponding damper 20 having previously been opened andthe opposite damper 20 closed. The dampers 21 and 22will be open and thedampers 21 and 22 will be closed. In other words, these parts willbe inthe reverse position from that shown in Fig. 5. The necessary air tosupport combustion will enter the port uncovered by the damper 22,andwill flow through the flue 18 and port 17 tothe combustion chamber13. The hot gases and the fumes from the material being heated will passout through the port 17 and through the ilue 18 to the stack. This.operation is continued in the crucibles has been melted oijfor anyshorter or longer length of time desired. The operation is then reversedby shutting off the burner 16 and starting the burnerl and openin'g thedampers 20, 21 and 22L andclosing the dampers 20, 21 and 22. The airwill now enter through the flue 18 and will be preheated by the heatedwalls of the flue, While the hot gases escape through the eitheruntilthe material- Hue 18 and will heat the walls of the latterpreparatory tion. v

I have shown the dampers 21 and l21 in the form of vertically movableslides and the dampers 22 and 22 as pivotally mounted valve plates. `Asshown the dampers 22, extensions 24, 24 Aandv the have outwardlyextending which may engage with these to the next lreversal ofoperadampers 21, 21*l lugs 25, 25

-lever extensions to tilt and open the pivoted dampers when the slidingones are lowered into position. close the pivoted dampers when thesiiding ones are raised. As far as the operation above described isconcerned the construction of these dampers might.be 'very radicallyaltered as flues have suitable means wherebycommuitis only essentialthat the dos vGravity is relied upon to nicationiwith the stack/'may becontrolled,

and air admitted adjacent to the controlling means. 'It is noted thatthe `dampers 22, 22 open to a predetermined' and definite degree whenthe dampers. 21,' 21 are raised. The admission of air is preferablycontrolled in accordance -with atmospheric conditionsv by meansy ofauxiliary readily controllable dampers. In Fig. 6 I supplemental airinlet port26 adjacent to 120 accomplish this by a the port controlledbythe damper 22 and i having a sliding' damper 27 for controllingv isdesired to' securelsaid port'26.A When it vthe stack these adjustabledampers 27 may be closed as for instance upon a humidA or particularlywarm day. It is evident that the dampers may be controlled' in anymanner desired to secure the sought or nary be entirely omitted.

".llhe dampersj, 2li 'are shown with rings or .loops 28, 28a at theirupper ends and suitable levers, cords or other operating mechanism mayextend from these dempers to the opposite side of the furnace or to anyother suitable position trom which it is desired to operate them. i havenot illustrated such operating means as it is evident that any suitablearrangement of levers or cords and pulleys might be employed for thepurpose. have shown each heating chamber as containin a single row ofthree crueibles, but it is or course evident that the size of the`heating chamber may be varied with the worir to be accomplished, and anydesired particular size and arrangement of crucibles may be employed.These crucibles are illustrated as being supported on blocks 29 ofrefractory material, the blocks being so positioned as to insure apredetermined arrangement and spacing of the crucibles.

The entire top of the heating chamber is preferably made up of separateremovable sections 30 which may be lifted olli' by any suitable hoistingmechanism, for instance block and tackle, piston and air cylinder or asuitable arrangement of levers, These may of course be designed inaccordance with the desire of the operator or ada )ted to the particularposition or location o the furnace. Each top section BG is preferablyprovided with a central aperture 31 located above the correspondingcrucible and through which the latter may be charged or inspected. Anysuitable closnre 32 may beV employed for this apertura Preferably theinner Walls of these closures as well asthe wallsof the heating chamberare lined or covered with refractory material.

Another important feature of my construction involves the specialprovision shown for receiving any material which may be spilled from tbecrucibles or which may drop into the heating chamber beside thecrucibles or to receive the material escaping fromA a crucible upon thecracking, breaking or overturning of the latter. The bottom Wall of theheating chamber is preferably inclined laterally and adjacent to theheatn ing chamber is a secondary chamber or catch basin chamber 33.Within this chan may be placed crucibles 34 and a series outlet portslead from the bottom o the important 'where lead or otl. readilyvolatile metal is being melted. Tnt removable covers to the heatingchamber and the secondary chambers as well the large size oi the fines18, 1S permit the ready cleaning of said chambers and ilnes to removeaccumulation of deposits. vIt the 'f burners be properly regulated andthe proper amount of air be delivered to the combustion chambers suchdeposits should. contain'little or no soot.

Having thus described my venti'onwhat I claim as new and desire tosecure bv- Letters-Patent is:

l. In combination, a heating chamber, a stack, `two separate luesserving to connect said chamber with said stack, means for da liveringHuid fuel to each end of said cham ber, each oi said iiues having an airinlet port, means intermediate said stack and the port for closingcommunication through the line to the stack, a drainage chamber fromsaid heating chamber and a flue from said drainage chamber to saidstack.'

2. A furnace including a heating chamber, a combustion chamber at oneend thereof and having a ilnid fuel inlet port, and an air inlet port, astack, a flue connecting the opposite end of said heating chamber Withsaid stach, a drainage chamber connected with said heating chamber, anda separate flue connecting said drainage chamber and said stachD ySigned at New York in the county of New York and State of New York, this26th day of May, D. 1913.

WILLIAM N. BE T.

Witnesses:

E. CoLTRAN,

FLORENCE LEvmN.

llo

